Grassley Advocates for Farmers With ‘Dirt Under Their Fingernails’ During Exchange with Agriculture Secretary Nominee Brooke Rollins

WASHINGTON –Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a lifelong farmer, highlighted the needs and priorities of family farmers during a hearing to consider Brooke Rollins’ nomination to be Secretary of Agriculture. Grassley discussed the importance of payment limits, reining in federal spending and enforcing thePackers and Stockyards Act. He also drove home the importance of answering congressional requests for oversight and protecting agency whistleblowers.
Video and excerpts follow.

VIDEO
Payment Limits
“The legal term, ‘actively engaged in farming’ is not being enforced. We have too many people on Wall Street getting farm payments that shouldn’t be getting them… You ought to have dirt under your fingernails if you’re going to get payments from the taxpayers for your farming operation. I expect the term ‘actively engaged’ to be fully enforced.
“There can be tremendous savings to the taxpayers… if you put a cap on what one farmer can get from the farm program, so we aren’t subsidizing big farmers to get even bigger.”
Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) Spending
“The first Trump administration and the Biden administration used money from the Commodity Credit Corporation that I don’t think should have been used. The power of the purse rests with Congress under Article I of the Constitution. Money can’t be spent without the authority of Congress, and billions have been wasted that way.”
Enforcement of thePackers and Stockyards Act
“I think thePackers and Stockyards Actis stronger than anything the Justice Department can do under antitrust laws to protect the welfare of farmers and make sure the marketplace is working… ThePackers and Stockyards Actis the most effective tool to make sure the marketplace works for the American farmer.”
Whistleblower Protections
“You’ll have tens-of-thousands of people working under you, and you can’t know everything they do. You ought to listen to whistleblowers. It’s not just you yourself listening to whistleblowers, it’s you establishing a culture within your agency that middle management is going to listen to whistleblowers.”
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